Sister of the Prince
by 14thEternityNightMare
Summary: Ryoma’s sister has finally returned from America! What? She’s joining a middle school and she’s a year older than him? ...WAIT! What do you mean she doesn’t play tennis! What’s the big idea! Most likey no yaoi. May include OOCness. Warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1

Sister of the Prince- Chapter 1

A/N: I get that most of you are going to slaughter me now for not updating, but the fact is that I always write out the stories first on a piece of paper and ask my friends for their opinion. . When they give the 'ok' sign to me, then I start typing it out. :D Plus the fact that I just got stuck with this awesome idea! (Plus my computer crashed a few days ago and I lost all my data)

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Warnings: There **most likely** OOCness in this so you can't say I didn't tell you. There may or may not be pairings. =] Let me hear your thoughts. No flames.

Summary: Ryoma's sister has finally returned from America! Guess what? She's joining a middle school and she's a year older than him. ...WAIT! What do you mean she doesn't play tennis?! What's the big idea?!

Ryuu means dragon. :D (Yes, I know it's a boy's name, but humour me, OK? It's a girl's name in this fanfic!)

--

Emerald green hair with electric blue streaks sparkled in the sun. When she turned her head to look at the driver, he felt himself inhale air, feeling shocked, quickly. The girl had almost golden cat-like eyes which seemed to dance with life and emotion. When a smile lit up her face, the atmosphere around her seemed to lighten up with her smile.

"**Excuse me; can you please take me to **–fill in Echizens' address-**?**"

The dazed driver blinked a couple of times and raised his hand to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly before saying, "A-ano... Do you speak Japanese?"

The girl looked startled before sighing. "Aa...Gomen. I forgot I was in Japan and spoke in English. Can you please take me to –address-?"

"It's no problem. I'm just happy you can speak Japanese. It's made my job much easier! My name is Kenshin," he said, looking happy that for once he had a passenger that could speak fluent Japanese. "Hai, I can take you to that address. Please take a seat first while I load your things."

"My name is Ryuu. Ah, no need, I will help you as well. Then we can both get there twice as fast!"

The driver looked up from the bent position he was in (from reaching down to carry the bags) feeling mildly surprised that she offered to help. He tried to refuse her help, but she pouted and firmly stated that she would help, so he had no choice but to humour her. After all, the customer always comes first... right?

--

"Arigato, Nanako-chan, I'm going off to visit Ryo-chan!" yelled Ryuu as she slung her bag across her shoulders and dashed off down the steps, heading towards the gate.

Standing at the door, Nanako let out a sigh of obvious relief and smiled. "It's so good to see that girl again. It somehow always feels incomplete when she's not around with Ryoma and Ryoga."

--

-Outside the gates of Seigaku-

Ryuu stared at the sign outside the school gates. Twitching a little, she walked into the gates without attracting much attention, seeing as school was already over.

_Well... Ryo-chan is probably playing tennis right now, so I guess I'll play a few songs first then go and find him. He should hear it anyway, so it should be alright. _

Her sensitive ears caught the sound of a match being played and she dutifully followed the sound of tennis balls being hit. Spotting an unoccupied seat, she sat down on a bench near the tennis courts. Pulling out her violin, Ryuu placed it under her chin and started playing Ryoma's favourite song.

--

A hauntingly sad tune filled the air. While it was sad, it also carried a lot of raw emotion and the composer's feelings could be conveyed clearly to the audience.

--

Ryoma stopped running suddenly, which caused him to miss a shot and lose a point.

Momo blinked a couple of times, surprised that the freshman would suddenly stop like he just did. It wasn't like him at all.

Ryoma's ears twitched as he tried to pinpoint the familiar melody he heard, but it was a little hard with all the other sounds going on around him.

"Oi, Echizen! Why did you suddenly stop? We're still in the middle of our game!"

Ryoma had long stopped listening to him after he yelled his last name.

"Aa... Momo-senpai, can you please tell buchou I have to go somewhere for a few moments? I think **she's **back..." as soon as he finished his sentence, he handed Momo his tennis racket and quickly ran towards the direction of the melody, all the while no emotions showing on his face. Inside, however, was a different matter. It was bloody chaos and his mind was firing questions at him a mile a minute.

Momo's eyes went wide and his mouth hung loosely. After all, it's not every day that you see the freshman prodigy run off in such a hurry. He heeded to do as he was asked and the stoic captain kept his normal calm demeanour with no hint of emotion on his face, and said, "He said that he needed to meet someone, right?"

"H-hai..."

"Then just let him be and continue your match when he gets back."

"Hai, buchou!"

--

Ryoma looked around and found her sitting comfortably on a bench not far from the tennis courts and playing her violin with a serene smile on her face. "N-nee-chan...! I thought you weren't going to be coming back for a year? Why are you suddenly back today?"

Ryuu continued on as if she never heard him in the first place while Ryoma seemed to understand why she didn't reply and waited patiently for her to finish the song. When she finally finished, she placed her violin back in her bag and pouted, crossing her arms. "Mou, Ryo-chan, that's the first thing you say after not seeing your sister for 3 years?"

"Uhh... I missed you?"

"Wah, Ryo-chan is still so kawaii! You're still as hesitant as before!" she cried, getting up from her seat and hugging Ryoma tightly (glomping). Ryoma tensed and waited for the suffocating feeling, but after a few moments, he felt nothing.

"Eh...? Nee-chan, how come when you glomp me I don't feel suffocated? Every time senpai glomps me, I always feel air deprived and suffocated..." said Ryoma, deadpanning.

Looking amused, Ryuu answered, "Ara? Don't you remember? That doesn't happen to MY victims. It's just a matter of mastering the skill..." she sighed happily, adding in an additional comment. "Plus I got to practice it on Onii-chan till he turned blue... Ah~ Good days, good days..."

Ryoma sweat dropped and his mouth twitched, refusing to give in to the ever increasing urge to smile every time his sister was around.

"You still haven't answered my first two questions."

"Uhh... I just felt like it? Plus I've gotten a little bored of travelling the world..."

"Ah... I see." Ryoma definitely understood. It was actually a miracle that she had stayed away that long. She tended to get bored easily and would either go home or go somewhere else and find something more interesting to do.

"Anyway, Ryo-chan, don't you have to go back to your training?"

"Eehh... But I haven't seen you in so long, nee-chan..."

Ryuu laughed. "We'll have plenty of time to catch up later. We DO live in the same house, after all."

Ryoma scowled a little hearing his sister rebuke his reason for staying and spending more time with her so easily.

She rummaged her bag and pulled out a small bag before plonking it on his hands, waving her hands in exaggerated motions, shooing him back to the tennis courts.

When she started walking away, as she waved her hand casually to say good-bye, she called out. "That's my souvenir from America!"

Ryoma rolled his eyes at his sister's love for drama.

On his way back to the court, he mused silently that Monkey King and his sister would probably get along badly, as his sister hated the kind of people that showed off their wealth and power.

--

-After Tennis Practice-

"Oi, Echizen! Why did you suddenly leave in the middle of practice?" asked Momo as he ran up to Ryoma.

"Momo-senpai... I met someone. She gave me something..." said Ryoma, as he remembered the bag Ryuu gave him, pulling the small bag out of his pocket.

"Hn... I wonder what this is."

Ryoma pulled open the string and both regulars peered into the bag curiously.

-Moments later-

A shout of joy could be heard for the next 2 miles.

Kikumaru's ears perked up, hearing the shout, and he pulled on Oishi's hand, dragging him along to where the shout come from. Oishi sighed, defeated, and followed somewhat unwillingly.

Fuji heard it from the inside of the club room and made his way out, eyes curved up into two 'U' shapes, hoping that whatever happened was amusing and could keep him entertained for the next few days.

Kaidoh, who was in the middle of a discussion with Inui about his new training schedule, heard his 'rival' shout and looked mildly surprised, and Inui pushed up his glasses, making them glint in the sun, muttered a quiet, "Ii data..." both made their way to Momo and Ryoma in sync, silently agreeing that they would go there.

Tezuka had heard the shout as well, but ignored it, hearing the joy behind that shout, instead opting to head home.

Kawamura blinked as he heard Momo and spied Kaidoh and Inui quickly making their way to the freshman and sophomore. Paling, he rushed after them, hoping nothing too bad happened.

--

When all of the regulars reached there (excluding Tezuka), they came across an odd sight.

Some blinked while others kept their calm expression (Fuji) and one was scribbling frantically and mutters could be heard.

Fuji immediately began snapping pictures with his camera, which he rushed back into the clubroom to snag, while the rest just gaped at the sight.

Oishi was the first to break out of his stupor (since Fuji wasn't surprised and Inui was writing). "Wah...? Echizen! What happened to Momo? Why is he on the floor?!" said Oishi, giving into his instincts and going into mother hen mode in the end.

Indeed, Momo was on the floor. He had a goofy looking expression of pure bliss on his face and there was a pool of drool on the floor. He lay on the floor, face tilting up and dead to all that was happening around him, his eyes glazed over, seemingly in a trance.

Ryoma, however, was staring at Momo with an expression of pure disbelief, and blinked a couple of times when Oishi spoke.

Then, he ignored his senpai, stared at the bag again, and mumbled, "Wow..."

The rest stared at him confused. Fuji stopped taking pictures for the moment and spoke up. "Saa... Momo looks like he's enjoying himself."

The others all sweat dropped at his uhm... statement. Curious, Kawamura asked, "A-ano... Echizen-san... what are you holding there?"

Ryoma stopped being amazed and looked up. "Ara...? They're chocolates."

They blinked. "O-oh... So why IS Momo like that?"

"... He ate the chocolates."

There was silence. You could even hear the wind blow and see the dust balls roll past.

Suddenly all the sound came back at once.

"NANI?!" all the regulars (besides Fuji) shouted.

"Hai... you see, after I took out the bag, when Momo-senpai saw that they were chocolates, he grabbed one of them and popped it into his mouth. For a few seconds, he was silent, then he suddenly yelled out and became like he is now."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Arrgh! I really want to try it, but I'm not sure if it's poisonous or not!" whined Kikumaru, looking at the small bag longingly.

"...It's not poisonous..." said Ryoma quietly, defending his sister (without them knowing).

"Why would you say that?"

Fuji spoke up this time. "Momo looks really happy, doesn't he?"

"Oh. Right..."

Kikumaru, who was staring intently at the bag of chocolates, suddenly grabbed it from Ryoma. "Waa~! Look at this! It's the famous brand 'Dream Candy'!"

All of them crowded Kikumaru and Momo, who had finally woken up, caught what he said, and immediately jumped to his feet, joining in with the crowd. The design on the bag was a cute small blue cloud with a small pink star at the top right corner.

The regulars were stunned into silence once again.

Finally someone broke it when they noticed no one was saying anything. "Wow. I thought that this brand of chocolates is really expensive...? It's really healthy and it has about sixty percent lower fat-rate than all other brand of chocolates. No other company has been able to produce something that matches or surpasses this so far."

Everyone stared at Kawamura.

After a moment or two of silent staring, he got flustered and waved his hands about, saying, "Ah...! It's not what you think! It's just that my kaa-san has recently taken to this brand of chocolates and started going on and on about it when she starts thinking about it."

Momo grinned. "What? We didn't say anything."

Kawamura grew even more flustered than before and started blushing lightly. Momo chuckled lightly. Kawamura was so fun to tease!

"Fshh... my parents have taken a liking to this brand as well..."

"I think I saw my one-chan eating that."

Almost all of them had someone in the family (or themselves) taking a liking to that particular brand.

So in the end, everyone ended up stealing a piece of chocolate from Ryoma and eating it.

Their reactions were amusing, and made Ryoma, who was the only one unaffected (as he was saving it for later) besides Fuji, laugh at them and Fuji gained a lot of future blackmail material.

Later, Inui wept at the loss of data that he failed to collect.

--

-At the Echizen House-

A loud "Chibisuke~!" was heard, and a moment later, a loud "**BOOM!**" was heard as well, as two people crashed to the floor.

"O-oi...! Nee-chan! Get off me!"

A reluctant Ryuu got off a twitching Ryoma.

Ryuu grinned at Ryoma and the younger sibling sighed, but smiled happily. "Ne, nee-chan...Where did you get the chocolates that you gave me? I heard that they're really hard to come by as they usually get sold out after the first hour of release."

Ryuu's face tinted pink and she scratched the back of her neck. "Uh... I made them before leaving America..."

"E-eh... Then why does it have the brand of 'Dream Candy' on it?"

"Oh. It's my company brand?"

Silence.

"NANI?!"

The door crashed open.

"Wah! Shoujo, shounen! What happened just now?" (Guess who? I dare you.)

"..."

Seeing as how her brother was still in shock, she replied for him. "Aa... Chibisuke just found out that I was the one who set up the company that produces 'Dream Candy'."

Nanjiro blinked before heaving a big sigh. "Oh. Why was your reaction so dramatic? I already told you before, shounen..."

"Uso! When was that?"

"... about a month ago... during dinner..."

"I don't remember..."

"I think you might have had something on your mind then. You just nodded you head a few times, so I thought that you heard it. I was pretty disturbed by the lack of reaction, you know?"

"Well, oyaji, you should probably have told him during a match with him or something. You know how absent minded he gets during dinner!" said Ryuu, interrupting Ryoma.

"Aa... right... I kind of forgot."

"..."

"Chotto... nee-chan, does that mean you're a millionaire?"

"Yeah~! It sure does! I'm about on par with the Atobe cooperation!"

Nanjiro had a gobsmacked expression on his face while Ryoma looked a little lost. Ignoring them, Ryuu suddenly said, "Ano... I'm going to school."

Ryoma looked at her strangely. "Why? Haven't you already finished school and all? I mean, you even graduated in college!"

"Aah... Well, I kind of haven't gone to school for awhile already and I have to say, it really is really boring when about 7 hours that are usually filled with school is suddenly taken out of your daily life all of a sudden. Now I know why oyaji reads all those perverted magazines all of the time."

"Hey! I resent that!"

Both siblings acted as if they never heard their father and continued on talking. "So... which school are you going to, then?"

Ryuu scrunched up her face cutely and tilted her head to one side, deep in thought.

After thinking about all the different kinds of schools that she had visited during the day, she came to her conclusion.

"I'm going to..."

--

A/N: Hehe... sorry about the cliff hanger, but I really wanted to publish this tonight (or is it morning?)! Well, please R&R! =] You're free to give me suggestions and I might include them in the story if I like them enough!

NO FLAMES!


	2. Chapter 2

Sister of the Prince- Chapter 2

XXX

A/N: Heya, guys. :D This is chapter 2 and I hope you enjoy it! Please R&R! I did my best to finish this chapter. I wanted to finish it in a week, but I kinda failed… *ducks the various objects being thrown at me by readers* Sorry! T_T

I'll make up for it! I promise! =]

Uwah! Don't kill me if the grammar is bad! T.T

Disclaimers: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any other manga/anime.

Warnings are in the first chapter, so go and read it there. Don't make me repeat myself. I hate doing that.

_**Important Note**_: Ryoga is in **Seigaku High School. **He is NOT Middle School. Also, Ryuu **WILL **join the tennis club in later chapters. Don't be worried about this being a boring fic.

Ototou – younger brother

Nee-chan- sister

Onii-chan- elder brother

Oyaji- informal way of saying father

Tou-san- father

Kaa-san- mother

XXX

Echizen Ryuu is 170cm. She has dyed white hair with cat-like golden eyes.

Yukimura Seiichi is 175cm. He has dark blue hair with grey eyes.

Sanada Genichirou is 180cm. He has black-blue hair and light brown eyes.

Marui Bunta is 164cm. He has reddish-pink hair with light purple eyes.

Jackal Kuwahara is 178cm. He doesn't have hair. His eye color is brown.

Niou Masaharu is 175cm. He has silver-grey hair with teal blue eyes.

Yagyuu Hiroshi is 177cm. He has purple hair. His eyes are hidden behind his glasses.

Kirihara is 168cm. He has black hair with green eyes.

XXX

_Previously..._

"_I'm going to..."_

XXX

"...Rikkaidai!"

...

"...EHHH?"

Ryuu looked at both her father and brother, feeling a little surprised. "Why are you so surprised?"

"But Shoujo, I wanted you to go to Seigaku!"

"Why did you choose a different school?"

"Even Ryoga went to Seigaku!"

She looked at her family members and calmly replied, "Oyaji, both your sons are in Seigaku. Aren't you satisfied already? Anyway, I'm not going to join the tennis club, so why should I go to Seigaku? They don't have the club I want there! Plus, I really want to have a match with Ryo-chan officially! If I ever join, that is…"

Nanjiro tried to counter her statement. "Even if you're not going to join the tennis club and the sport you want to join is not provided in Seigaku, you can always just join an outside club!"

Ryuu pouted. "...No way! I don't want to! I heard that the stronger people are usually in school clubs. Besides, it's so fun to make people from an elite school feel extreme frustration at why I sleep all day in class and still get top marks for the exam!"

Father and son sweat dropped as they saw their dear family member's playful side (and somewhat sadistic if you think of it that way) come out.

Nanjiro sighed in defeat and nodded his consent. Ryuu turned and looked at her ototou, seeing if he gave his consent as well.

Her ototou looked amused at the situation now, no longer shocked. Plus he had already long given up as he knew he would never beat his nee-chan in a verbal battle.

A loud whoop was heard from Ryuu as she hugged her tou-san tightly.

XXX

-After dinner-

Ryuu sat in her room, staring at the picture that she had found in her ototou's room. She was staring hard. REALLY hard.

The picture had the Seigaku regulars and their manager in it. All of them stood in a straight row. Ryuu, however, was staring at two particular people. Both were standing side by side. It was the captain and the manager.

The manager wore a plain white tee-shirt with green track pants while the captain wore the Seigaku regulars' attire.

More specifically, she was staring at their glasses as she faced an inner dilemma.

_Should I choose the normal pair or the opaque pair? ARRGH! I can't decide! If I wear the opaque ones (like Inui's), then people might keep trying to find out what my eyes look like... on the other hand, if I choose the normal ones, I just KNOW I'm going to attract attention to myself..._

After weighing the pros and cons of each option, she gave up and asked her brother his opinion when he came into her room to get back his picture that she borrowed.

"Ne, Ryo... which do you think I should choose? Which type of glasses looks better?"

"Ara...? Nee-chan... What are you talking about? You don't need to wear glasses. Your eyesight is better than mine!"

"Aa... I don't, but it fits in with the image I'm going to wear at school."

"Wha-?" Ryoma started saying, but he groaned when what she said registered in his mind. "Don't tell me you're going to do _that _again! You already did that in some of your tournaments!"

Ryuu grinned and ruffled her little brother's hair. "Well, it appears that it's happening again. Plus, I'm dying my hair this time!" after pausing for a moment, she asked again, "You still haven't answered my question. I'm going to add another one! What hair color do you think will look good on me?"

"... Well, personally, I don't think you should get ANY glasses at all, but if you insist, at least get something like buchou's! I refuse to be seen with you if you ever wear something similar to Inui-sempai's. For the hair color, you could try white…"

Jumping up from the position that they had slowly got into (sitting on his bed) while 'discussing' Ryuu's problems, she bid her little brother good night and strode back to her room in no hurry at all.

XXX

-1 week later…-

5.30 am

Ryuu groaned as she heard her alarm ring. She reached up and threw the alarm across the room and pulled her blanket over her head. Her sleep was short-lived, though.

Not a moment later, the alarm started ringing again. Ryuu twitched. Who was the 'genius' that invented an alarm clock that was practically indestructible? The moron! He probably had no life to invent this kind of thing!

Grumbling to herself and adding in a few curses now and then, she reluctantly pulled off her blanket and left the comfy inviting bed that seemed to be calling out for her and headed towards the bathroom.

XXX

6.00 am

"Ah, ohayo, Ryuu-chan. Breakfast will be ready soon," said Nanako, not looking up from the frying pan as she heard her niece stumble down the stairs.

"Ohayo, Nanako-chan. Is it a Japanese breakfast?"

"Hai, hai... I know both you and Ryoma hate other kinds of food, so I made it for you."

As she set the plate down on the table in front of Ryuu, she finally noticed the changes in the sweet girl. The change in appearance was astounding!

Ryuu grinned at the shocked look on Nanako's face.

Ryuu looked more like a boy now, albeit a feminine one, but most people would just think she was a bishounen. She wore the Rikkaidai's boy uniform, which was a simple white shirt with a pocket in the front and a pair of long dark blue pants with a matching tie which was blue with white stripes. She had her tie pulled loose and the first two buttons unbuttoned and her shirt was not tucked in.

Her hair which was black before (and looked kind of green) with electric blue streaks in it was now a snowy white color. It was tied in a low ponytail with a red ribbon instead of her usual high one. Her almost-golden cat-like eyes went well with the new hair color and stood out because of it, almost looking like it was glowing.

She also wore a pair of glasses (looks like Tezuka's) with no degree on it. On her right ear was three silver piercings while the left side only had one. On her hands were her usual weights and it looked like black wristbands.

She had wrapped bandages around her chest area and it was even more uncomfortable than before, though she figured that it was probably because she had been… growing… recently.

"Wow… Ryuu, you look really good as a boy!"

Ryuu smirked, which turned into a full-blown grin. "Yeah, I know! We girls know how to look like the best anyhow."

Nanako giggled. "Yeah… Most girls don't have the looks to make a good boy, though."

"True…"

XXX

-Ryuu's POV-

This school really is an elite school… it look me an hour to walk here, and I REALLY hope I don't get lost in this school… wait… why should it matter? It's not like I'm here to study anyway…

Well, I should at least have the courtesy to attend a few of my lessons on the first day. I can skip after that.

It's settled, then! I'll attend a couple of lessons then go check out the club. Let's see if I can find any interesting people…

XXX

Ugh. It's such a hassle to introduce myself… then… I'll make it short and sweet. "My name is Echizen Ryuu. Yoroshiku… I like karate and tennis."

Oh, crud… all the girls had stars in their eyes. What freaked me out even more is that some of the guys had stars in their eyes as well… Not good…

Ugh. Please, please, PLEASE put me with someone who isn't a fan girl/boy… I stared at my sensei with a blank face, but pleading eyes. Then, I noticed that Yuri-sensei had stars in her eyes as well. Aw, man… why did all of the older women who have seen me in my boy disguise always get stars in their eyes?

She placed me with a boy who had messy black hair and green eyes. He didn't have stars in his eyes. Oh, thank god for overprotective fangirls. Hn… he looks familiar… have I seen him somewhere before?

The said boy looked at me curiously for a moment. "Hey. My name's Kirihara Akaya. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I would introduce myself, but since I did that just now… Hey… do I know you? It seems like I've seen you somewhere before…"

He chuckled. "I don't think so…You said you like tennis right? Are you going to join the tennis club?"

I hesitated in answering. "No… I'm going to join the karate club. Why?"

Kirihara looked surprised. "Oh…why, though? Most people come to this school because they want to join the tennis club since Rikkaidai is famous for its tennis club."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really…? I didn't know that…" I mused.

Kirihara's jaw dropped. "..? How could you not know this school is famous for its tennis?"

"Well, uh… I was going to join Seigaku, but it didn't have a karate club, so I just joined a random elite school. I didn't want to go to Hyotei since all of them are stuck up rich snobs."

He snickered. "Yeah? But you didn't answer my question. Why don't you want to join the tennis club? You love tennis, right? You even brought your tennis racket."

I blinked, and then stared at my tennis bag. "Eh… looks like I brought it by habit…" I said, surprise evident in my voice.

I saw Kirihara stare at me in disbelief. "…You didn't know you brought it?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "Eheheh… no…"

He laughed, causing some of the people around us to turn their heads and stare (those that weren't already staring, that is.). They quickly turned away when I raised an eyebrow, as if asking "What?" I answered Kirihara's question.

"Well, since I can't really find any strong people anymore, I decided to take a break from tennis and see if there are any strong people in Rikkaidai for their karate club, since I'm not that good at karate yet…"

Kirihara certainly was a very expressive person. I bet he couldn't hide his feelings even if he wanted to. He stared at me in disbelief. "And you don't think that there might be people strong enough in Rikkaidai's tennis club?"

"Uh… that's not it. I wanted to concentrate on karate for awhile, but since I can play tennis everyday at home, I decided that taking two clubs at once isn't such a good idea."

He grunted, before both of us had to pay attention when sensei called our names.

XXX

-After 1st period…-

I smirked. Well, seems like I've found an interesting person.

I dashed off, shouting to Kirihara that I was going to the rooftop. I really couldn't stand it there anymore. If this was what was going to happen every day, then I might as well just sleep in class or skip it.

Reaching the rooftop, I collapsed on the floor and heaved a sigh of relief. The fresh air really helped clear my head. Pulling myself up, I walked to the fencing and leaned on it heavily, and sank to the floor in a sitting position.

Pulling out my weights, I felt my arms move up and down instantly. I closed my eyes and started to meditate.

XXX

-During lunch time-

I heard someone bang open the roof door and shout, "Oi, Ryuu! Come on, let's go!"

"Huh…? Where to?" I said, finally opening my eyes for the first time in 2 hours. When I did, I saw Kirihara staring at my weights that I was still lifting up and down.

"…You brought weights to school? Man… isn't it really heavy?"

"Hm…? It's not heavy. I brought 2 sets."

Kirihara ruffled his hair, making it even messier than before. "Arrgh! I don't care anymore! Let's just go! We're going to the tennis courts!"

"Hunh… well, alright… as long as you're not going to force me to play…"

"Yeah, yeah…"

Kirihara pulled me by my wrist, only allowing me to drop off my stuff at the classroom before dragging me off again in a hurry.

When we reached the tennis courts, my only reaction was the thought '**huge**'.

Kirihara grinned at my reaction, thinking it was funny.

"Oi, minna! I brought my classmate! Apparently he loves tennis but doesn't want to join the tennis club."

Oh, crud. Now everyone was staring at me like I was insane. Why did he have to say that?

A guy with grey hair in a low ponytail like mine walked up to me. "Ara? You're not going to join?"

I smiled. "Iie. I'm going to join the karate club. Two clubs at once might be too much for me." I lied about two clubs being too much. I knew I could handle it, since that was what I did in my previous school.

"Ah… but don't people who come to our school usually join the tennis club since Rikkaidai is famous for it?"

I blinked at him a couple of times. "Hai, but I'm taking a break from it for a time being."

"Hm… is your tennis good? I'll go easy on you."

"Aah… I'm alright at it… Uhn… senpai, I didn't get your name."

"It's Niou Masaharu."

I smiled at him. "Niou-senpai, I don't have my racket with me right now. Can I come by after school…?"

He nodded. "Sure."

After we left, Kirihara looked at, me, worried. "You shouldn't play a match with senpai… he'll completely obliterate you. He's one of the regulars with me, you know? And I still lose to him all the time."

I smirked. "Didn't I say I was finding strong people to play against? I said I was taking a break because I couldn't find any strong people to play against anymore, right? Then, I'm strong, of course…"

Kirihara looked at me, obviously not convinced. "Ah… don't make me say 'I told you so' later.

"Fine. I'm going to make you take back your words," I said, with an air of confidence.

"We'll see…"

XXX

-After school…-

I made my way to the tennis courts with Kirihara, and changed out of my uniform.

I looked at my racket, thinking that it was lucky I went and fixed it before I left the states. My racket was my most precious item, not including the necklace that kaa-san had given me. My racket was white color with the letter 'R' on the handle bottom. The strings were not the usual white color, but a nice silver color. I had a couple of rackets in my bag, but this was by far my favorite.

I stood in front of Niou-senpai and curved my eyes into a smile. "Which?"

"Smooth."

It landed on smooth.

XXX

-Normal POV-

Ryuu stood at the far end of the court, waiting for Niou to serve.

Niou served, severely underestimating Ryuu, using only 30% of his power, thinking that even though he was only using 30%, he wouldn't be able beat him.

When he served, it passed by Ryuu without him even twitching a muscle.

Niou sighed inwardly, thinking that there was another weak person. He didn't see Ryuu smirk, however.

XXX

-Ryuu's POV-

I smirked. He was going to get a shock if he thought I was an average player. This wasn't even close to my usual 30%!

I'll give him a game…

"1 game to love! Game to Niou Masaharu!"

When I served, I used a normal shot, allowing him to hit it back, before using about 70% of my strength, hitting the ball back with little change in my stance, only the slight tightening of my muscles to indicate this.

The racket flew out of his hands, making him stare at me in shock.

He stopped underestimating me then.

"15-0!"

"30-0!"

"1-1!"

By the time half an hour was gone, the score was already 4-3, without me using any of my special moves yet.

Kirihara was standing at the side, looking at me, shocked. There were a couple of other players standing around, watching with grim/amazed faces. I guessed these were probably the regulars, since the regulars and non-regulars practiced separately at this school.

"Ring~!"

I froze up hearing the school bell ring.

"Ano… senpai… can we take a rain check? I have to go to the karate club now… I have another match…"

Niou-senpai blinked, and said, "Uh… sure… but won't you join the tennis club? I'm sure you'll improve even further here…"

I smirked, placing my racket in my bag and slinging it across my shoulder. "Heh? I'll think about it…"

Before I was out of their hearing range, I stopped at the gate. "Ne, senpai… you were using about 70% of your power to play against me, right…? I'm only using about 50% of mine, you know…"

I didn't need to look to see their eyes widen.

XXX

-Normal POV-

Niou scratched his head, grinning. "Oh, boy… a cocky brat, huh?"

Kirihara started rushing off. "Ne, senpais, aren't you coming? He said he was going to go for a match, right? Knowing him, he'll probably have gotten a strong opponent."

(I'm getting tired of not referring to their names, and since all of you already know them, I will start to as of now.)

Sanada grunted his confirmation, and the rest regulars all rushed off to the dojo.

When they reached the dojo, Ryuu had already changed into his karate gi. He wore a black belt.

When the regulars saw his belt, they stared (they seem to be doing a lot of that).

Kirihara sighed. "Oi, oi… I thought you said your karate wasn't that good?"

Ryuu's ears perked up. "Ara? It's not. I still have a lot of things that I can work on."

Kirihara, Marui, Jackal, Yagyuu and Niou all had raised eyebrows while Sanada's eyes widened a little. "You could hear that? We're on the other side of the room."

Ryuu smiled. "Sure can. My hearing's better than most people, and it's better than my tou-san's."

Sanada was impressed, and showed it by introducing himself first. "Sanada Genichirou."

The rest followed his example.

"Yagyuu Hiroshi."

"Marui Bunta."

"Jackal Kuwahara."

Kirihara smirked. "So do you think you'll win or lose?"

Ryuu deadpanned. "Do you even need to ask?"

XXX

-Ryuu's POV-

I felt a minor killing intent from behind me. I turned around.

"Ara…? Senpai can use killing intent. Not bad…"

The senpai's eyes darkened. "I'll crush you…"

I smirked, directing a quarter of my killing intent on him only.

His eyes bulged a little and he probably felt a little suffocated.

I released the killing intent and said, "Well, senpai, that was only a quarter of my killing intent. Be happy it's not everything."

Some people said I became somewhat sadistic when I was doing karate. I actually did the same thing when I was doing tennis, but it only happened when I got really mad or when I was losing. I lost control over that side of my personality when that happened.

Both of us stood in the starting position and we waited for the call to start.

"Hajime!"

I beckoned for him to come. The senpai charged forward and I waited for him to come. Using the opponent's strength and turning it against him is my favorite tactic, but I could settle for kicking or punching if they didn't attack me first.

When he threw a punch at my face, I immediately grabbed his arm and twisted myself to be positioned in front of him, and threw him over my shoulder, where he stayed down for more than 3 seconds, meaning that I won.

I scratched the back of my head, directing my look upwards. "That was ridiculously easy. Are you sure you're the strongest?"

The senpai looked away, feeling humiliated. Hesitantly, he said, "Iie… I'm in the top 10, but I was kind of bragging a little since the others weren't there…"

I let my eyes curve into a smile. "That's what I thought…"

XXX

A/N: End of chapter! How did you like it? Enjoy it? Hate it? Let me know!

R&R PLS! :D No flames!


	3. Chapter 3

Sister of the Prince- Chapter 3

XXX

A/N: I finally got around to typing the next chapter! Sorry for taking so long!

Actually, I thought I was up to chapter 3, but it seems that my memory is failing me. *ahahaha…* *ducks various dangerous objects thrown at me my furious readers*

There have been a couple of important mistakes I made that I just recently noticed after rereading my previous chapters. Check the **IMPORTANT NOTE**.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, only my OC and her personality.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**: I made a mistake in the previous chapter and said that Ryoga was in Seigaku High School. It occurred to me later that he's already 18 and should be in college.

Oh, gawds. I just realized I completely left out Renji from the character list and forgot about him. (IM COMPLETELY SURPRISED THAT NO ONE NOTICED)

XXX

Warnings shall not be repeated again. This is labeled as OC and AU for a reason.

XXX

Echizen Ryuu is 170cm. She has dyed white (Actually so blonde it's white) hair with cat-like golden eyes.

Yukimura Seiichi is 175cm. He has dark blue hair with grey eyes.

Sanada Genichirou is 180cm. He has black-blue hair and light brown eyes.

Marui Bunta is 164cm. He has reddish-pink hair with light purple eyes.

Jackal Kuwahara is 178cm. He doesn't have hair. His eye color is brown.

Niou Masaharu is 175cm. He has silver-grey hair with teal blue eyes.

Yagyuu Hiroshi is 177cm. He has purple hair. His eyes are hidden behind his glasses.

Kirihara Akaya is 168cm. He has black hair with green eyes.

Yanagi Renji is 181cm. He has brown hair and brown eyes. (REALLY can't believe I forgot someone)

XXX

"Hwah~! Dream Candy, Dream Candy~!" I cried out, reaching into my bag to pull out the packet of my chocolates that I brought today.

Beside me, I saw Kirihara perk up and look at me curiously.

"Did you say 'Dream Candy'? Quick, hand me some! I love that candy! I might go berserk from boredom if I don't get some sugar soon!" He grabbed three pieces out of the bag as soon as he finished talking.

Of all the excuses he could have used, that was the most hilarious one. You can't go berserk from boredom…besides, getting sugar doesn't help with that. However, I didn't notice the other people in the classroom jerk up as soon as they heard Kirihara as well. Soon, they were all crowding around me and firing questions.

"Dream Candy? Ryuu-sama, you're so amazing…!"

"Uwahh…! Can I please have some? I always wanted to try it!"

"Woah! It's the famous brand! How in the world did you get your hands on so much?"

"I heard it sells out as soon as it's placed on the self! Even I couldn't get any!"

I just nodded my head slowly, before saying, "You can take some, I guess…"

The chocolates were all pretty much gone by the time everyone took one (or two) pieces.

Kirihara whistled, peering into the bag. "Well, maybe you shouldn't have told them they could take 'some'. I bet it was really expensive, right?"

I felt myself sweat drop. "Uh, it's alright…" I lowered my voice, "I still have more in my bag."

His eyes widened visibly. "No way… You must be seriously rich…"

"Aren't all of us who go to this school rich?"

Kirihara sweat dropped, "Eeh… some of us are, but some got here based on scores, so there are some of us that are fairly poor as well."

"Are you one of those who got here based on scores? I seriously doubt it…"

"Well, yeah, I wasn't one of those who got here based on scores, but- hey! Wait a minute! What are you trying to say?"

"Uhn… see, you don't look like the type whose scores are all that good-"

"Alright, alright, I know I don't look like the smart type, but that doesn't mean I'm not smart!"

"Sure, sure… whatever you say…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"So are you coming to the tennis courts again during lunch? The buchou might be back. Yanagi-senpai might have recovered from his sickness as well."

"Uhn… I don't think so. I'll probably spend it on the rooftop again…"

"…Alright…"

I didn't like that look he got in his eye. He's definitely planning something. He's going to do something that will probably trouble me for the rest of the day.

Having no choice, seeing as I already said that I would be going to the rooftop, I headed to the rooftops, but to a different rooftop from the one that I went to the day before.

Pushing open the door, I repeated my previous actions and leaned on the fence heavily, closing my eyes and pulling out the weights, starting to work on my arm muscles again.

About fifteen minutes later, I heard the door to the rooftop creak open. Crud. If my institution is right, then it's definitely Kirihara that's at the door. Hearing as that there are more than a couple of footfalls, he brought the senpais as well.

XXX

I really hate being right sometimes.

"Echizen! I knew you would be here! I was right in thinking that you would try and avoid me, but would be honor bound to your words and still be on one of the rooftops!"

Oh? So he uses his brain at times like this instead of during tests?

I kind of wondered if I said it out loud, seeing as Niou-senpai and Marui-senpai started sniggering, while Kirihara looked at me with exasperation. A senpai which I didn't see before the previous day was with them. He had brown hair and his eyes couldn't be seen as he closed them. He held a blue notebook and was jotting things down.

"…I said it out loud, didn't I?"

"…Yes, yes you did."

XXX

Marui-senpai whistled seeing my weights. "You're even training in school. During lunch break no less. Can I hold them for a moment?"

I nodded my head, showing approval. Marui-senpai took the weights off my hands, almost collapsing at the weight. I laughed, making most of them look at me. Yanagi-senpai was busy writing down something in the blue book of his, and as I quickly learned, he was the data expert. They had finally remembered to introduce him to me after much subtle promting from me.

"Wha-? This is insanely heavy! This is _way_ heavier than the weights we train with!"

I saw Kirihara's eyes bulge out of its sockets, while the rest of the regulars stared wide-eyed, excluding Yanagi-senpai, who stopped to stare at me for a moment (with his eyes open, obviously) before continuing to jot things down in his book.

Shrugging, I pulled out my second set of weights and started exercising again. "That's the lighter pair. I usually start with the lighter one before using the heavier pair. When I get home I use the other sets of weights I have."

"…Exactly _how_ heavy are they?"

"Each? Or as a set?"

"Each…"

"The lighter one is around 50kg? The heavier one is around 65kg…"

I saw them stare at me, shocked. Hesitantly, I asked, "…It's not normal?"

"No…I think it only happens when one is training for a body-building competition."

"Oh…Well, I need it for my karate seeing as my body-build is slimmer than the rest. It doesn't seem as if my muscles seem to grow much anyway, so people still usually underestimate me when they see me competing or lose to me."

"Ah…I see…"

"…Right. Anyway, what _were _you finding me for that's so important you have to interrupt my training?"

Sanada-senpai seemed to save everyone (from they're speechlessness), and replied my question, "We were going to ask you if you wanted to continue the match from before, seeing as you never got around to finish playing the match yesterday."

I blinked a couple of times. "Sure… but… its class time in 5 minutes…"

"Hai... we got sidetracked and never got to the point after finding you. Thus, we would like you to come after school again."

"Un…gomen, but today after school I have to go somewhere, so maybe during tomorrow's lunch break?"

I received a nod in confirmation. I let my mouth curve into a smile and I rushed back with Kirihara (as well as the others) to the classroom.

The moment I reached my seat, I suddenly got a thought. Why was I even in class? I thought I was going to skip it! Ah, well… it was probably a spur of the moment thing. With that thought, I let myself slump onto the table and went into a light sleep.

XXX

The next period, during English, I heard the sensei call my name. When I got up from the desk, I looked at him sleepily. "Hai, sensei?"

He twitched for a couple of seconds. "Echizen, solve the question on the board."

I stumbled for a moment, before catching myself and walking all the way down the 'aisle' and to the whiteboard. Staring at the question for a few more moments, I picked up the marker and wrote down a detailed, college answer, hoping that in the future he would leave me alone to sleep in peace.

I made my way back to the seat, still half-asleep, and I was left in peace once again.

It wasn't for long, though, as right after I closed my eyes, I heard the class break out in murmurs and 'whispers'.

Most of them went something like this:

"Ryuu-sama is the best!"

"Woah. Are you sure that he should be in the second year?"

"That was completely unexpected. I wonder what else he can do."

"Ryuu-sama can do **anything**~!"

I honestly never thought that I would sweat drop so long (while I was 'sleeping') in my entire life.

XXX

-After School-

Ah! School was finally over! Now I have to hurry to the competition venue in order to make in time.

I rushed to Tokyo University and looked for a head of dark green hair that was more or less standing out from the crowd due to the color.

I found my victim in less than a minute, even if he was in a crowd. Weaving my way in and out of the numerous eager college students rushing to get out of the gates, as well as the ones rushing in, I grabbed onto his hand and started talking. "Aniki, can I please borrow your bike? Please?"

He whirled around and faced me. "E-eh…! Ryuu-chan! You can drive?"

"Ye~s," I said impatiently, "I got my license in the states! Now, please?"

He wordlessly handed me the keys. Grabbing them, I ran towards the bike, already short of time, and quickly strapped on the helmet, hopping onto the bike.

I started the engine with practiced precision, and revved the engine a couple of times, taking off.

I was somewhat aware that aniki was staring at me in disbelief from somewhere in the crowd that had appeared outside the gates when I started getting ready to zoom off.

Ah, crud. Not more fangirls. It didn't help that I was wearing a sleeveless, black leather shirt with black pants either. Curse the only time I choose to wear these clothes to be times like this.

XXX

I collapsed onto the sofa with much less grace and dignity than I would have liked.

When kaa-san came into the living room, she looked at me curiously. "Ryuu-chan, did you have another competition?"

"Yeah. The prize money was a pretty decent sum, so I decided to enter."

"Well, congratulations on winning sweetheart," she hugged my head since I was lying down, and gave me a kiss before leaving the room and starting to prepare for dinner.

I groaned. I would never make it back to my room! It was too far away… with that thought in mind, I went into a peaceful slumber… that is, until aniki returned home.

"Chibi-chan! Where are my keys?" he tapped his foot impatiently, waking me up with his unnecessary loudness.

I groaned again, mustering the strength to point at the table next to the sofa, and immediately let it collapse back into its original position.

As his I heard his footsteps slowly fade away, so did my consciousness…

XXX

A/N: Okay, this chapter was pretty short, and it was kinda insignificant in my thoughts, but it had to be written. Well, mainly because I forgot about Renji and was too lazy to edit it. Blame it on my laziness, but I actually wrote a whole other chapter. Now that I think of it, it would have been less trouble to edit it. -.-


	4. Chapter 4

Sister of the Prince- Chapter 4

XXX

A/N: I know, I know, it took me a really long time to write this, and I'm sorry you guys had to wait! Forgive me? Anyways, here's the latest chapter of 'Sister of the Prince'.

XXX

Echizen Ryuu is 170cm. She has dyed white (Actually platinum blonde) hair with cat-like golden eyes.

Yukimura Seiichi is 175cm. He has dark blue hair with grey eyes.

Sanada Genichirou is 180cm. He has black-blue hair and light brown eyes.

Marui Bunta is 164cm. He has reddish-pink hair with light purple eyes.

Jackal Kuwahara is 178cm. He doesn't have hair (lol. I just couldn't resist putting this here). His eye color is brown.

Niou Masaharu is 175cm. He has silver-grey hair with teal blue eyes.

Yagyuu Hiroshi is 177cm. He has purple hair. His eyes are usually hidden behind his glasses.

Kirihara Akaya is 168cm. He has black hair with green eyes.

Yanagi Renji is 181cm. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

XXX

"_Ring ring, ring ring…"_

The alarm started ringing and barely five seconds later, the…'unfortunate'…alarm went flying across the room, missing Nanako by mere centimeters.

Nanako's eyes screwed shut and her arms quickly rose in a cross, above her head protectively, keeping her safe from any major harm.

After a moment of silence, she cracked opened an eye, breathing out a relieved sigh, before proceeding to properly stomp over to Ryuu, dragging her out from under the blanket by her ear. "_Ryuu…_" she growled, "_don't throw things randomly…! Has it ever occurred to you that it might actually __**hit**__ someone…?_"

Ryuu woke up immediately from the pain, hands shooting to her ear where Nanako was gripping so hard. "Itai-tai-tai…! Gomen, gomen…! I won't do it again…!"

"Ryuu…! Don't you know-!"

-10 minutes of agonizingly slow torture later…-

"Well! Off you go! You still have to get ready for school!" Nanako said cheerfully, all traces of anger from before completely gone.

When she left, Ryuu clutched at her heart, sweating heavily. "This is why I always wonder why people find _me_ 'scary' when they haven't even met Nanako-chan! I swear she's bi-polar!"

Nanako's head appeared in the doorway, her smile ever so beautiful. "Did you say something, dear?"

"No…" Ryuu said slowly, "nothing at all…"

"That's what I thought!"

XXX

"He~y! Ryuu! Today is the day you promised senpai the continuation of the match! You **have** to meet him!"

Ryuu looked up from her psychology book. "Aa…? Alright then, I'll see him later."

Kirihara groaned. "You have to be kidding me…! That's all you can say…?"

Ryuu quirked an eyebrow, as if wondering if he even needed to ask. Kirihara sighed. "Yeah…I shouldn't have asked."

The corner of Ryuu's lips twitched up. "Well, then…you better go back to you seat, huh, Kirihara-kun? Seeing as sensei is so venomously glaring at you," said the white-haired student, finally looking up from his book, smiling sweetly.

Kirihara faltered, looking over his shoulder, and met the steadily darkening face of their sensei. He actually let out a soft, unmanly "Eep!", which he quickly covered his mouth, hoping no one heard. When he looked around, to his relief, his classmates were either chatting away or munching on something, too busy to notice the _sound_ from him. However, when he glanced at Ryuu cautiously, he paled.

Ryuu's lips moved upwards, slowly forming the most sadistic smile the messy-haired boy had seen, making him sweat buckets. Ryuu's fringe was covering his eyes, deepening the effect and terror it inflicted. Slowly, he raised his hand, showing a tape recorder. Before he could click on the button though, Kirihara tackled him to the ground, ferociously trying to wrestle the tape recorder away from the 'evil' classmate of his.

At the close contact, Ryuu flushed a little, expertly hiding it in a couple of seconds.

Suddenly, they felt an unearthly killing intent from behind. "_**Kirihara Akaya!**_"

XXX

"Oi~! Ryuuuuuuuuuuu…!" the messy haired boy whined, "let's go already!"

Ryuu sighed, snapping the book shut. "Alright... I suppose I do have a promise to fulfill, after all."

XXX

The tennis gates made a grating sound when unlocked. The regulars looked towards the door, taking a short break from their practice.

A head of white hair peeked out from behind the gates, as well as startling golden cat-like eyes, which curved into a semi-circle when he spotted them. "Aa…Ohayo, senpais…"

Messy black hair (that some would call seaweed) that looked uncombed and a pair of emerald green eyes that blinked from the hot sun when greeted them with his usual nonchalance. "Ohayo, minna-san…!"

The third-years all nodded their heads slightly in a show of acknowledgement, before continuing their practice as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Ryuu sweat dropped and entered the tennis courts, thinking that the Kirihara's behavior was probably normal for him, and thoughtfully stepped aside to let his classmate pass through.

Kirihara perked up and looked around in a child-like behavior, before spotting who he was looking for. He waved wildly at the said person. "Ohayo~! 'Mura-buchou! You're finally back…!"

Their ''Mura-buchou' had dark blue hair and shining grey eyes. He smiled kindly and looked at Ryuu. "Aa… are you Echizen Ryuu that they've been telling me about these past two days?"

Ryuu blinked, seeming like a cat even more with his eyes. "Ahh…hai. Yoroshiku, senpai."

"Right… well, it seems you're here for the match with Niou, right?"

Ryuu nodded.

"Well then, let's get to it!"

Marui cheered. "Alright! Finally! Some action!"

XXX

"So we start from…"

XXX

"Game set and match! 7-6! Echizen!"

XXX

Kirihara, Marui, Jackal and the non-regulars who had been around by chance when they started playing were gaping at Niou who was on fours on the ground, panting and dripping heavily with sweat.

Sanada's face darkened. "Echizen…"

Ryuu, who was slightly out of breath from the match, looked up hearing his name being called. "Just call me Ryuu, Sanda-senpai."

"…Since you have defeated one of our regulars, you have to join the tennis club. Our rule is that no one can lose. It is your responsibility since you defeated Niou."

Ryuu scowled. "No way. I told you I was joining the Karate club, did I not?"

"…Niou will be kicked out of the regulars unless you join, since it is a disgrace to lose to someone who is not even in our team."

Kirihara's eyes widened. "Wha-! Senpai! You can't do this! We need Niou-senpai!"

"…I can and I will."

Ryuu frowned. "…Fine. Since it was my fault, I will take responsibility."

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break. Kirihara groaned and dashed off, breaking the others out of their stupor as well. Everyone except Ryuu, Sanada and Yukimura had left to go to their classes.

Ryuu sighed. "Ne, senpai…sure I defeated Niou-senpai, but you didn't have to go that far, you know? I would have eventually joined if you piqued my interest enough anyways."

"…Yeah. But that would have taken a really long time knowing your personality."

The white-haired girl laughed. "Yeah. That's true. You probably wanted me in time for some competitions, huh?"

Yukimura stepped in. "Ryuu-kun, it's not like that. I will be leaving for the hospital soon for an operation, so we need someone to step in for awhile."

Ryuu sighed. "That's fine, but are you sure this is alright? Since you _are_ a boys' tennis team after all." When he heard no response, she looked down from the blue sky and peeked at her senpai's face.

Sanada's mouth was slightly open in a gape while Yukimura was blinking furiously. "E-eh…? Ryuu-kun is a girl?"

Ryuu smirked. "Oh, you guys weren't able to tell? At least now I know that my disguise can fool even senpai-tachi."

After a minute of awkward silence, Yukimura spoke up. "If I recall, a couple of years ago, the tennis association made a rule that girls were allowed to take part in boys' tournaments/competitions. But since most of the girls were either uninterested or would rather cheer us on instead, there has never been a girl that competed in the entire history of competitions."

"…well I'm all clear then. This should be fun…I might get to meet Ryo-chan on the courts."

"…Ryo-chan?"

The second-year girl smiled. "Hi-mit-su~!"

Chuckling, Yukimura started walking off, Sanada following behind. "Ja, Ryuu. There's practice later on, so please attend."

Ryuu smiled slightly. "Aah… I don't feel like attending class today. Seems like a little skipping class is in order."

XXX

A sleeping figure on the rooftop woke up, yawning and stretched. Ryuu checked her watch. "Aah…school's over already. I have to go for tennis practice."

With that, she walked down the stairs and headed towards the tennis changing rooms.

When she walked, in, she was greeted with a sight that she would rather not have seen…and that sent her blushing furiously.

Kirihara looked at her just when she managed to get her emotions under control. "Hey! Ryuu! Start changing, alright? Buchou is going to have our ass if we don't get there soon. The other regulars (besides Sanada and Yukimura) made grunts of acknowledgement.

"I-it's alright… I-I'll w-wait outside for you to finish c-changing…" Ryuu cursed her stuttering voice and noticed that she had started blushing furiously again. Even her ears felt warm.

Kirihara and the rest of them stared at her sudden stuttering. Niou spoke his mind. "Ryuu…? Why are you stuttering and blushing furiously like a girl?"

If it was possible, Ryuu blushed harder, and escaped the changing room, collapsing on the wall next to the door, her knees betraying her, making her sink to the ground.

She buried her head in her hands, still blushing.

A couple of moments later, after she got her blushing under control again, the regulars exited the room. One of them spoke (she wasn't sure which one), "Ryuu…are you gay?"

Her blushing came back full-force again. Her head shot up, and she said in a scandalized tone, "No! Baka senpai-tachi…I'm a girl!"

It took a few moments for it to sink in. "…Uso!" Kirihara, recalling that he had been standing in front of Ryuu, blushed even harder than Ryuu was blushing now. Amongst the regulars, there were a couple of others that were blushing hard as well. They included: Marui, Niou, Yagyuu and Jackal (who was so tan that it wasn't very obvious). Yanagi was the only one not blushing, writing down the new information in his notebook and all.

After Ryuu got over her embarrassment, she told them, "I'm going to change, so can you guys explain to 'Mura-buchou for me?"

They nodded in response to her request, walking off to the courts.

Ryuu changed quickly, not wanting someone who came late to walk in on her changing, since it was the boys' changing room.

XXX

"This is our newest regular, Echizen Ryuu. He beat Niou, so he has the qualifications to be a regular."

XXX

The first few days were pretty awkward for the regulars since they were conscious about a girl training with them, but they got over it quickly seeing as Ryuu trained just as, if not even harder, than them. What they _didn't _know, however, is that when Ryuu got home, she trained even harder, weights, speed-training, sound training, she did them all.

Seeing his sister work so hard, even when she said that she wasn't going to play tennis for awhile, Ryoma worked much harder than before, not wanting to lose to her. If she got even stronger than she was now (which she was), he was never going to be able to beat her, let alone his oyaji!

It was a wonder that both of them didn't collapse from the daily training that they did each day, but it did miracles for their body and strength.

During this time, Ryuu had noticed that she was relying on her sight too much and was slightly slow when she could not see the shot. It had probably something to do with her perception ability, taking note of everything her opponent was doing and predicting what they were going to do, but it had made her rely on her eyes too much.

Thus, she acquired a black blindfold that she now wore every time she trained. Since her hair had been long enough to cover her eyes, no one had noticed anything out of the ordinary as of yet.

She was often paired up with Kirihara, being the same year and all, and Kirihara had grown leaps and bounds, his competitive spirit rising during every training session.

XXX

"Ryuu, Akaya, go have a practice match!" said Sanada, calling out to the two who were currently lazing around.

"Hai!"

Both sophomores stood facing each other across the net. "Rough or smooth?"

Ryuu chose rough and Akaya spun the tennis racket. It landed on smooth.

"Service."

"End."

Kirihara served using a normal speed.

Ryuu's blindfold was still on (not that anyone knew) and she ran accordingly to the sound that his racket had made when he hit the ball and returned the speed normally as well.

"Game, 4 all!"

Ryuu served and accidentally hit Kirihara in the face, making him fly back with the force of the ball.

The regulars watching them paled. Yukimura had told him that he wasn't allowed to use it on other tennis members in their school, but when someone hurt him using a tennis ball, it came out anyway.

Akaya's eyes turned bloodshot, and he started releasing killing intent. Startled, Ryuu ripped the blindfold off her eyes, hurting them a little at the sudden sunlight.

They gaped at her. She was wearing a blindfold? How come they never noticed?

Ryuu started cursing. "I knew it! I knew I saw you before somewhere!"

"Heheheh…enough talking! Let's start playing already!"

Ryuu's face darkened. "Tch…fine. I'll show you that you can't use it lightly."

A return was aimed at Ryuu's knee at full-speed. To her, it looked like it was hardly moving at all. She moved away and returned the shot using her full-speed. The watching regulars couldn't see it at all.

Startled, their eyes widened. "…Ne, Genichirou…is that faster than yours?"

"…it just might be."

If it was an anime, there would probably be an "!" mark above their heads.

The match ended in a couple of minutes, at the score of 6-4, the demon of Rikkaidai not scoring a single point. Just before Akaya collapsed, she said, "…Be thankful that I didn't go all out in those shots at all."

At her statement, the regulars gaped, including Sanada who looked lost and confused. His best speed had probably just been topped and here she was, saying that she didn't even go all out. What kind of training had she been doing at home? It definitely wasn't due to the training regimen that she had been given by Renji.

Just then, Akaya collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Ryuu sighed. "Senpai-tachi, I'll bring him to the nurse's office, so please go on training. Still in their stupor, they just stared at her blankly. Thankfully Yukimura had recovered enough to give her his permission.

Ryuu picked him up with one hand and carried him bridal style. They continued gaping at her.

When she left, they broke out of their awe. Marui and Niou started snickering. "If Akaya finds out he was carried like a girl **by** a girl, he's going to flip."

The others started laughing and even Sanada allowed a smile to slip through.

"I don't think any of us ever thought that she was holding back so much. Besides, did you _see_ that blindfold she ripped off when Akaya went into devil-mode?"

They nodded, agreeing with their captain's view of things.

XXX

-In the nurse's office-

Akaya slept like a log on the bed, whilst Ryuu stayed by his side on the chair that the nurse had left there for other students who did something similar to her and waited for their friends to wake up. The nurse had not reached school yet and Ryuu applied first-aid on Akaya's face, cleaning up the dirt and stuck a bandage on his nose.

Watching him sleep, Ryuu was suddenly struck by the thought that he was really adorable when he was sleeping, not at all alike when he was awake. She blushed a little when she realized what she just thought, shaking her head like it was going to help her get rid of the unwanted thoughts.

A couple of hours of waiting later, he woke up, groaning. "Itai…did anyone get the license plate number of the truck that ran me over?"

Ryuu laughed a little. "No…but the person that caused you to pass out from exhaustion is right in front of you."

His brain caused him to have a headache when the memories suddenly came rushing back at him. "Oh man…Sorry, Ryuu! I can't control myself when I go into Devil-mode… though if I recall correctly, you didn't get hit at all."

At this time, the lunch bell rang, and the regulars came piling in moments later. "Aka-chan~! Are you alright?"

Akaya scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and said, "Yeah. Oh man…this is embarrassing. I couldn't even get a shot in even though I went into Devil-mode."

Ryuu's lips twitched. "Heh. Don't feel bad. Since yours is just a copy of the original."

His eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

The rest blinked. "Eh?" they said in union.

"Right…it's a copy…Akaya…don't you remember the person you got it from anymore?"

He scrunched up his face thinking. "…I don't remember her face anymore, but I remember thinking she was really pretty and really strong."

Ryuu flushed slightly. "…Right. Well, you went to a tennis tournament in China and watched the 14-16 year olds play tennis. Amongst one of them, there was an eight year old that won the tournament. You were amazed at her ruthlessness, but she pieced them back together and reversed the psychological damage that she caused each of them. At the end of the tournament, you approached her and asked her if you could use her style in the future. She told you it was fine as long as you didn't claim the credit of using that style."

Akaya's eyes widened. "How did you know that? Only I should have known that since I went to watch by myself."

Ryuu's smile from before widened to an evil smirk. "How I know…? Why, there should be someone else who knows, right? Since…that person you asked is…_me_."


End file.
